Pelham School Board fills last vacant seat

PELHAM, N.H. -- The Pelham School Board seat, which the write-in winner(s) of the March 12 election, John "Jack" King, either didn't want or wasn't eligible to hold, has been filled.

The School Board voted unanimously, 4-0, on Wednesday to appoint Carl Wiswell to the fifth seat.

Wiswell, 43, is a five-year Pelham resident who retired from the Air Force after serving for 20 years as a linguist, including in Germany and Saudi Arabia. He was one of six candidates applying to fill the seat who all took part in a publicly televised interview session before the board Wednesday night at Pelham Elementary School.

The seat had been open since the March 12 election when the lead write-in candidate for the fifth seat with 48 votes, John King, declined a formal invitation from the Pelham School District to serve on the board for a three-year term.

Another resident of Pelham, Jack King, a frequent poster on the town message-board, for whom the write-in votes appeared to have been intended, as a nonactive voter was ineligible to serve, the New Hampshire Secretary of State's office ruled.

The other five candidates who wre interviewed by the School Board Wednesday night were: Joy Flanders, a 20-year teacher in Lowell; retired minister David Wilkerson, a chief technology officer for an IBM business partner; special-education parent Courtney Daigle; former Pelham Utilities Committee member Sean Minuti; and Web-security company executive George Muldoon.

The board peppered the six candidates with questions, asking about their goals for the district, opinions on the district's strengths and weaknesses, and definitions of what makes for an "effective" School Board member.

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"We're most successful and effective when we communicate very explicitly why we're making a decision, as well as what the tradeoffs are," said Wiswell. "We need to communicate to the community that we're doing our due diligence in challenging all aspects of the solutions to come up with the best one we can."

The main strengths of the district are the quality of communication from the staff to parents, Wiswell said. "Another great strength is our academics -- we have overcome some of the facility challenges and have still produced greatly successful kids who have gone off to college."

A glaring weakness of the district is the lack of sufficient advanced technology courses, Wiswell added.

Wilkerson, who hails from a family of educators, said when it comes to interactions between the school district and community, "there seems to be a disconnect that is evident at the polls," he said. "There has to be some creative ways for (the School Board) to engage the community, so they know we are listening, and we can be heard by them."

Pelham's school facilities are a weakness, Wilkerson said.

"Our facilities are important and they will always be a challenge, and they do mark one of our weaknesses," he said.

Flanders said this school year marks the first that all her children transferred from the Lowell Public Schools to attending Pelham schools.

"Our goal as a School Board should be to get our children ready for college and to become the best they can be, " said Flanders. "Being here for a year I've observed a lot, and learned a lot and that's why I wanted to get more involved in my children's education."

Muldoon said he wants to see the board focus on improving the Pelham School District's performance and reputation to make it among the best in New Hampshre and the Merrimack Valley.

"I always thought this community has the potential to be one of the best school systems in this state," said Muldoon. "I see the reputation some of our surrounding towns have, and it kills me. I'm a coach here and encounter some greatly intelligent kids... I want us to set lofty goals and reverse engineer an academic program to achieve those goals."

Daigle said the board should always keep in mind "the bigger picture" in forming its budget and educational goals.

"We need to understand every child does not learn the same way... We should encourage their passions, so when they get out in the real world they're ready for it and become well-rounded, contributing citizens."

Minuti also said he thought Pelham had the potential to become a top-rated school district.

"We do have problems at the high school and middle school in that we're stuck in a financial bind, Minuti said.

Wiswell is scheduled to be officially sworn in by Pelham School District Moderator Paul Leonard at the board's April 17 meeting, Chairman Brian Carton said.

Newly elected Pelham School Board member Thomas Gellar, who flew to Brussels this week for a family emergency, participated in Wednesday night's meeting and vote on Wiswell's appointment by way of a long-distance Skype hook-up from Belgium, engineered by Pelham Cable TV Coordinator Jim Greenwood.

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